Sacrifice
by Kissed A Wookie
Summary: LoZ Four Swords.  The Links are stuck in another dungeon.  They're close to the end, but will they make it out with their lives?  Non-yaoi.


_The Links are stuck in another dungeon. They're close to the end, but will they make it out with their lives? Non-yaoi._

So I've been reading Four Sword stories like non-stop for the past month, and I finally figured I'd try to write one myself. I was planning on it being BluexRed, but it didn't happen; it's more of a friendship thing now. Ah well. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Sadly, I don't own LoZ Four Swords, Nintendo does. That is why I must one day own Nintendo.

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><p>"Not another one!" yelled Blue. This had to have been the twelfth "dead end" the Links had come to in the remote dungeon. There were several reports of monsters being spotted in there, so of course the four heroes went to see if there really were any and dispatch them.<p>

The past eleven rooms had originally lacked an exit doorway when they were entered. It was only after completing a puzzle or defeating some monsters that a pathway would reveal itself and allow the Links to press on. "Just relax, Blue," commented Green, paying little mind to his counterpart's frustration. "Hmm, I see some writing on the back wall. I guess this room's the type with a puzzle."

"That makes things even _worse_! At least fighting monsters would make our time in here more worthwhile," complained the hot-headed hero. Meanwhile, Vio had already strode up to the wall to study the ancient Hylian markings engraved onto its surface. Like in the previous rooms, the writing was well-worn and difficult to decipher. The minimal torch light didn't help either, and Vio could only make out a few sentences.

"I believe," Vio began, the rest of the group looking over at him, "I believe it explains what we are to do next, but it is not easy to read. All I can make out is," his eyes widened as he continued,

_Thou hast come this far and passed each test._

_Needed now is a sacrifice to complete thy quest._

They all looked at each other, confusion and worry written across their faces. "Wh-what does that mean?" asked Red timidly, looking at Vio.

"Well, traditionally, a sacrifice is an offering to a deity," replied the purple-clad Link. "An animal is usually killed to be given to the god as a form of worship." This only made Red even more afraid, and he cowered next to Blue, gripping his arm tightly.

Blue just shoved him away. "Get off me!"

Sighing, Green walked over to Red. The leader put his hand on the smaller boy's shoulder to help comfort him. "Great going, Vio. Your explanations don't have to be so thorough, you know. Just look at what you did to Red!" At this, Vio sighed and said a quick apology to his frightened friend.

"Can't you guys focus even for one minute? Yeesh! The sooner we figure out what that puzzle means the sooner we can get out of this stupid place. According to it, this is the last room of this dungeon, so quit your yapping and focus!" Green and Vio each sent a glare Blue's way, but before Green could say anything back, the entire room began to violently shake.

The four heroes stumbled and almost fell. Suddenly, a dark glow appeared in the middle of the room, growing larger and larger until it began to take shape and resemble a body. At first, the darkness seemed to have human-like features – two arms, two legs, one head – but it was soon apparent that this was no human.

The room stilled, and as the darkness became solid, a hideous creature stood facing the four at about 1½ times their height. It stood on two legs, with its two hooves planted firmly on the ground, supporting the immense weight of its body. The torso was somewhat thin, but packed with muscles. Its back was slightly hunched. Two thick arms extended into hands with sharp claws, the right one hooked around the hilt of the sword on the beast's left hip, still in its scabbard.

The head that towered above the heroes was set on broad, sturdy shoulders. It tilted downward to stare at them with fierce, amber eyes that could burn holes into solid rock. Two thick, black horns stuck out of each side of its head, which then curved upwards. Protruding out from the bottom jaw were two over-sized canines; the bleach-white tips glistened in the low torch light.

A pair of large, long, dragon-like wings sprouted from its back and was held close to its deep crimson body, causing them to resemble a cape or cloak. Lastly, a long, winding, tail slithered out behind the creature, staying rather still and close to its source.

All in all, this… _thing_ looked like it was spat out of hell itself.

The Links immediately grouped together, pulling out their swords in preparation to fight. The monster was not like any other they had seen before, and the lack of knowledge on how to defeat it caused them each to worry slightly. The boys glanced at each other, and then back up at the beast, which, to their shock, had already begun to charge at them, sword drawn.

Startled at seeing the creature headed directly for him, Green whipped his shield out in front of him in defense, and not a moment too soon. Only a split second later, a very long and impressive sword slammed against it, the force of the impact causing the hero to stumble and fall backwards. The imposing blade was then swiftly swung to the right, aiming right at Red's neck.

He was able to duck out of the way in time, but the beast's momentum allowed him to continue his swing into a full spin, almost hitting the Link on the other side of Green. Blue was able to dodge it with ease, rolling out of the attack's way. "Take THIS!" he roared as he ran forward and swung his Four Sword down in fury. But before the boy could make contact, the hideous monster kicked its leg out hard, slamming it into Blue's ribs and sending him flying back and into a wall.

"Blue!" Red was instantly by his friend's side and helping him back to his feet. Blue just pushed him aside, growling something about how he could stand up on his own. He winced slightly at the pain in his chest, but quickly shook it off.

All the while, the wisest of the group had been observing the shadow being carefully, searching for any sign of weakness. But as he watched it attack his friends, none could be seen.

Vio was quickly cut off from his thoughts when the monster went for him next. It swung its sword around at Vio, who rolled forward underneath it and swung his own sword up in an attempt to injure the beast while it was caught off guard. Success. Although it wasn't a deep wound, the hero was able to land a small slash on the monster before he ran off to a safe distance.

The creature from the darkness growled and let out a small roar in anger. With it temporarily distracted, the four Links charged at the beast all at once. They leapt at it, swords held high, but they weren't fast enough to complete their attack. The monster quickly recovered, and, sensing the heroes' offense, immediately jumped forward and placed his clawed hands on the floor. Pushing the lower half of its body up above him to perform a hand-stand, the beast began to rapidly spin itself on his hands. It spread its legs apart and became a whirlwind of muscle.

Unable to stop their momentum, the heroes wound up jumping right into the counter-attack. Each was hit hard as a large hoof slammed into their sides, sending them flying out in all directions and landing hard on their backs.

Green tried to stand up, but the pain was too much; his knees quickly gave out and he collapsed back onto the ground. He looked around and saw that his friends weren't having any better luck.

Having slowed its momentum, the monster stood itself on its hooves once more. Its stamina was impressive, for it showed no signs of being even slightly out of breath. Not wasting any time, it started to advance towards its previous target. Vio had barely even pushed himself up onto his hands and knees when he heard heavy footsteps heading in his direction. He froze then looked up and met the gaze of the enemy.

Just as the creature brought its intimidating blade back, ready to slash it forward and end the young boy's life, something jumped onto its back. Red had seen the monster approach his friend, and, fearing for Vio's life, he somehow managed to rise to his feet and hurdle himself onto the beast.

Startled, the creature thrashed around, trying to throw the small boy off. Seeing that it wasn't working, the shadow beast backed up and smashed his back against one of the walls. The impact was too much for Red, and he dropped to ground, wincing in pain.

It took a few moments for the monster to realize that it was free of the boy's grasp. As it continued to stagger around and try to toss off the person who was no longer there, Blue was finally able to get to his feet and balance himself. He looked up and his eyes snapped to Red.

"Red!" Blue started to run to his friend's side, but they were on opposite sides of the large room. Before Blue had even gotten to the floor's halfway point, the now infuriated creature realized its previous move had worked and whipped around to face the nuisance. Teeth bared, it took a step towards the still downed Red, and then another, and another…

"NO! RED, LOOK OUT!" Blue screamed, dropping his sword as he desperately tried to reach the innocent boy before the monster could.

Red heard Blue's cries as he finally got himself off of the floor. He looked up, and his eyes grew wide and terrified as the dark monster lunged at him, its menacing blade gripped tightly in its claws. Red was frozen with fear and could not remove himself from the enemy's path. Just as the beast was about to thrust his sword forward and into him, Red suddenly felt a sharp pain and hit the ground, landing on his side.

Confused, he realized that something had rammed him in the shoulder, which was what was hurting him. He twisted his shoulders around and looked up to see what had happened, how he was still alive. Instantly, he felt his heart stop at what he saw; his breath left him. Standing where he had been only a moment ago was his closest friend, Blue.

Blue, being the true hero – and friend – that he was, had pushed Red out of harm's way, unfortunately placing himself instead in the path of the monster's blade.

Time itself seemed to stop – no one in the dimly lit room could bear to move a muscle. The resulting silence was deafening.

Surprised that he had not felt the blow of the attack as he had expected, Blue slowly opened his tightly closed eyes. He gasped as his gaze met that of the beast, which was mere inches from him. His eyes broke away from the stare and shifted downward, and his breath was stolen from him when he saw the long blade of his enemy driven straight through his chest.

He knew he should be dead, but he wasn't. Blue didn't even feel any pain. It wasn't that he was numb; rather it was as though the sword wasn't even there, like it was only an illusion. It didn't make sense.

Just then, the sword was withdrawn and placed back into its scabbard. Breathing again, Blue immediately brought his hands up to his chest and patted it down. He couldn't feel a wound – his tunic wasn't even torn where the blade had been. Eyes still wide with shock and confusion, the hero looked around him and at his friends, who were now bolting across the room to him.

Red, obviously, was the first to reach him. He hugged Blue tightly, almost squeezing the life out of him. He buried he tear streaked face into Blue's chest and cried hard.

"Thank…the Goddesses…you're…okay," Red managed to say between gasps.

Blue could feel tears gathering in the corners of his eyes, but he refused to let them fall. "I'm glad you're alright, too," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper. Green and Vio reached them only a moment later, and Blue suddenly felt their weight on him as well. He twisted himself around to face them and saw that they were also on the verge of tears.

But just then, they all snapped back to reality and quickly glanced up at the beast – the beast who had been strangely keeping to itself that whole time. Something was different about it. The soul-burning eyes that had only minutes before looked upon the Links with a wild desire to kill instead looked soft like a father's eyes. The slightly hunched back straightened into a more refined posture. The rows of sharp teeth were no longer bared in anger and hatred and were instead hidden behind gentle lips – all except for the two large canines that couldn't help but stick out.

The beast began to look more like a man, even though none of its frightening features had actually changed. A seemingly civil creature now stood before the four heroes, who were taken aback when he lowered his head and bowed to them. After a moment, the swordsman stood back up and looked at the still shaken and confused boys. He then turned toward to one dressed in blue and opened his mouth to speak.

"**Brave hero. You have passed the final test,"** came his deep, booming voice. **"You were willing to give up your own life to save that of another. This was done without any concern for yourself, which was plain to see as soon as you dropped your sword, your only weapon.**

"**Your action was performed with a pure heart, which was why my blade did not harm you. It does not hurt those who commit such an unselfish deed."**

Green, Red, and Vio turned to their friend, who was still unsure of how to react. The imposing swordsman turned away from the group to face the wall opposite the room's entrance. He outstretched his right arm with the palm of his hand facing the floor. Pointing his fingers outward, his arm began to shake slightly. As it did, a part of the wall began to lower into the ground, leaving an archway shaped hole in its place.

The powerful voice sounded again, **"There is the way out of my dungeon. I am its keeper, you see."** He paused and hung his head a bit. **"I wish to apologize, young heroes. A dark entity plagued this dungeon simply for its own amusement. It was its riddles and monsters you faced earlier, not mine. He had cursed me as well, and I became wild, unable to control my own actions. Please forgive me for attacking you and for all the trouble you have gone through here."**

"Of course we do," replied Green. He looked around at the others, "This wasn't your fault, so there's no need to apologize."

Red then chimed in, "Yeah! We know you didn't mean it."

The swordsman gave them a thankful smile and the five warriors bowed to each other. As the heroes finally left, they looked back and saw the keeper disappear into the dark glow he had emerged from before.

Once outside, the Links stopped to look at Blue – all except Red, who found it very difficult to face him. Not really knowing what to say, Green and Vio gave Blue brotherly smiles filled with pride and respect. Neither of them would ever have thought that the hotheaded, short-tempered Blue would give up his own life for the sake of his teammates.

Blue accepted his friends' silent appreciation and smiled back. Realizing what he was doing, he quickly replaced it with a frown and crossed his arms, trying to look like his usual self. However, his tough facade didn't last long when he noticed Red. He left the others and walked over to the smaller boy, a look of concern on his face. The other two Links glanced at each other and nodded, walking off to give the other two some privacy.

Blue placed a hand on Red's shoulder, which flinched under his touch. Grabbing hold of the other shoulder, Blue turned Red to face him. When the boy still refused to look at him, a unusually gentle Blue tilted his chin up, forcing their eyes to meet. Red looked at his savior with the guiltiest eyes anyone had ever seen.

Blue tried to smile. "Red-"

"You could have DIED!" the usually calm, cheerful boy yelled out. Startled, Blue stumbled back a step, unsure of what to say. "You _would_ have died…if that blade had been a normal one," he said at a normal volume. Tears once again flowed freely down his face as thoughts and images of a dead Blue plagued his mind.

Blue realized that until Red cleared his mind of thoughts of what _could_ have happened, he wouldn't be able to calm down and see that everything was okay. "Look, Red, I'm fine, alright? Quit crying, there's no need to worry anymore." But the small hero's tears just kept coming at full force.

Seeing he wasn't getting to the boy, Blue tried a different approach. He grabbed Red and pulled him close, the side of his head pressed up against Blue's chest. "You hear that? Now would my heart still be beating right now if I were dead? Of course not! I'm perfectly well and very much alive. I'm the heroic blue Link! No monster could ever hope to defeat me!"

Red's violent sobs began to quiet down, and a small smile began to form. "Now if you're feeling guilty," Blue continued, "you better get rid of those thoughts. It's not your fault, alright? It was my choice…" Blue paused, then continued in a much softer voice, "…and I wouldn't hesitate to do it again."

At hearing that last part, Red broke away from Blue just enough to look up at him with surprised, reddened eyes. "You'd really do that? For me?"

"Of course. I don't know what I'd do without you." Suddenly, Blue realized what he just said. "I, uh, I mean the team! W-we, uh, we couldn't, um-" Before he could trip over his own words any longer, he was abruptly cut off when Red squeezed him tightly again, so hard that Blue didn't think he'd ever let go.

"You're my best friend, Blue." Red had never actually told Blue that, so he was a bit shocked to hear it.

R-really? But why me? I figured Green… I mean, I'm always hitting and yelling at you. I'm surprised you let me be your friend at all–"

"Because," interrupted Red, "you care about me a lot, about all of us. You never show it and act like you're angry all the time to hide it because you don't want to appear weak. But the truth is you love each of us deep down."

Blue didn't know what to say. He could only stare at his counterpart.

"And no one else has ever said something like that to me," continued Red, "…that they would be willing to trade their own life for mine. Nothing could possibly mean more to me."

Slowly, Blue raised his arms and gave Red a warm hug back, a small smile unknowingly forming on his face. No one had ever bothered to look past his façade and see the heart that was always hidden away. It meant the world to him that someone finally saw him as more than just an aggressive jerk.

After a few moments, though, Blue was back to his old self again. He cleared his throat, "Okay, okay. Now quit bein' a cry baby and get off me. You're gonna stain my tunic with all of your tears you know!" Red let go, but gave Blue the biggest smile he could offer before running over to where Green and Vio had been patiently waiting.

_You're my best friend, Blue_. Blue never thought a few simple words could sound so wonderful. He felt another smile tug at the corner of his lips, but he fought it off. Crossing his arms, Blue made his way over to the rest of the group.

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><p>What, you thought I was gonna kill Blue? No way, he's my favorite Link! I got you though, didn't I?<p>

So last week I had the climax of this story played out in my head. I changed some stuff around a few times and settled with this one.

But when I figured I'd turn it into a fanfic, I realized that I couldn't just submit a climax, so I sat down at my laptop and wrote the rest of the story right on the spot. So I hope it all makes sense and flows well.

Hey, did you notice that when the dungeon keeper returned to normal I began to refer to him as "he" instead of "it?" I hope you did and I didn't do it for nothing.

(If you see my friend Halli's review, no, it's not based off the two of us. And we don't really act like them, either. Oh that kooky girl lol)


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